Cushion in the Closet
“Anything else?”
Forall will often wrap up “Dharma Discussions,” group interviews that are often held during the evening meditation period at the Monastic Academy, with this phrase, as an invitation for the interviewee to bring forward anything pressing that the natural flow of the interview didn’t already bring up. On this particular evening, the interview really had flowed—I’d stayed in my practice, and our exchange stayed focused on my goal and my technique. But when he asked the question, something unrelated came into my head.
“There’s something about… the chant for the funeral service?” We’d had a conversation earlier in the day about the topic; I was serving as chant leader at that time and was thus responsible for coordinating the funeral service, which was in the process of being modified and updated. As I’d worked on it that day, some questions for Forall had come up, and they bubbled up to the surface of my mind when he asked “Anything else.” “But I don’t know why it’s coming up now,” I said.
“Anything that hasn’t been completely resolved is still there. That doesn’t mean you need to deal with it right now.” He gestured behind him. “For example, did you know there’s a cushion in the closet back there?”
“What?”
“There’s a cushion in that closet. We use it for morning interviews. It’s just going to stay there until someone brings it out. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I said, my confusion dispelled. “Thank you.” I bowed to end the interview.